Young ambush victim: 'I was terrified. I didn't know their intentions'

Jessie Staples and his two cousins were walking down Greer near Central Avenue when he they were ambushed at gunpoint by four teenagers in a car.

Honor student Jessie Staples, then 17, and his two older cousins were headed home on a recent Sunday after their shift at Back Yard Burgers on Poplar when they were ambushed.

As they strolled down the sidewalk on Greer Street, bordering the Memphis Country Club golf course, a Buick Regal whipped by and turned on Midland Avenue, blocking their path.

"Keep going," Staples muttered.

Two strangers hopped out of the car, and one yelled: "What set (gang) do you claim? Where's the weed?"

Staples, a Hamilton High senior who loves math and computers, said: "We're not in a gang."

The strangers pulled out handguns. Staples and his cousins splintered, running in all directions. A third assailant joined the other two to chase them. A fourth, the getaway driver, remained in the car.

"I was terrified," Staples said. "I didn't know their intentions."

Staples pounded on the front doors of two homes for help. When no one answered, he sprinted up one of the driveways, past a BMW, and dove into bushes for cover.

In a hushed voice, Staples called 911 from his cell phone. Officers who answered the call had to coax him from his hiding spot.

DCS decides whether the teenagers serve a day in lockup, are placed in a rehabilitation program or sent back into the community in a group or foster home.

Staples, who is debating between college or enlisting in the U.S. Air Force, doesn't walk home from work anymore. But the young man, who turned 18 on Wednesday, said he's no longer afraid of the suspects.